The ongoing wage negotiation between Efling and the Association of Private Schools (SSSK) have made it clear that the private schools in theCapital Region, which are fincanced using public funds, intend to use social dumping against their staff.In a negotiation meeting on 7 October 2020, SSSK demanded broad wage cuts, including abolishing current protections against dismissal, reducing rights during maternity leave, and reducing the amount of sick leave, in some cases up to 25 times less.For nearly 20 years, the terms of employment for workers at private schools have been based on the terms of employment for workers of the City of Reykjavik in the same positions. If SSSK‘s demands are met, the employment terms for workers at private schools would be considerably worse than the employment terms for city employees. It is of note that the vast majority of the workers these new terms would apply to are women receiving the lowest wage rates.The chairman of SSSK has previously stated in an inter view with Mbl.is on 7 October 2020 that there were no wage cuts included in their proposals. This is an unnacceptable misrepresentation that Efling is forced to now correct.20 out of the 22 schools involved operate according to a service agreement made with the City of Reykjavik, which holds the operation of the schools to high standards. The schools are funded by the City of Reykjavik with this funding based on the operating costs of the city‘s kindergartens, however private schools may earn additional income through tuition.The negotiations between Efling and SSSK have been ongoing for more than six months, since an agreement was reached between Efling and the City of Reykjavik on 10 March 2020. Efling referred these negotiations to a governement mediation in May. Nearly 300 members of Efling work for SSSK member institutions.„The City of Reykjavik signed a historic wage agreement with Efling which recognized the importance of tradtionally women‘s work. Now privately run kindergartens, which are dependant on the city for their funding, plan to attack the rights of these same women through social dumping. Among other things, they intend to dismantle their rights during maternity leave. I have winessed many different wage negotions, but this is simply outrageous. I wonder if the City of Reykjavik intends to take part in enforcing this,“ said Sólveig Anna Jónsdóttir, the chairman of Eflingar.Efling will call for an information and consultation meeting with members who work for SSSK immediately after the weekend, where they will decide on the next steps.
